Brother Ali hasn’t always seen his work as political commentary. But ahead of his third studio album and a new political consciousness, all of that has changed when he got arrested while occupying a foreclosed home.

In one of the first studies involving Occupy participants, the Applied Research Center gathered young activists from multiple movements in focus groups to ask, What propels you to the political frontline?

As spring comes, the world prepares for the Occupy movement to once again fill the headlines. Colorlines.com talks with Occupy Wall Street organizers who have sought to keep race in the movement’s conversation.

The Occupy movement is clearly unifying, and centralizing racial equity will help to sustain that unity. This won’t happen accidentally or automatically. It’ll take more of the difficult work that’s already underway in several local movements.

Oakland’s first Asian-American mayor, Jean Quan, has authorized violent police raids on the Occupy Oakland encampment. For many protestors of color, the move raised questions about the face–and complexion–of the power they’re fighting.